Tracking substances over various business processes

ABSTRACT

The disclosure provides a method, software, and system for monitoring substances. In one embodiment, a method includes identifying a first document associated with a business process of an enterprise. A first volume of a substance based, at least in part, on the business document is determined. A second document associated with the business process of the enterprise is identified. A second volume of the substance based, at least in part, on the business document is determined. The first volume and the second volume is aggregated. A file associated with the business process is updated with at least the aggregated volume.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application claims priority under 35 USC §119(e) to U.S. PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/795,414, filed on Apr. 27, 2006, the entirecontents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to managing substances and, more particularly,to tracking substances over various business processes.

BACKGROUND

Enterprises may import, produce, use, sell, or ship substances that poseenvironmental and/or biological hazards during the course of business.In a attempt to avoid, reduce, or minimize exposure to these chemicals,government agencies have developed guidelines for handling suchchemicals. For example, the European Commission adopted a proposal for anew European Union regulatory framework for handling hazardouschemicals, COM (2003) 644. Under this example current regulation,enterprises that handle more than one ton of a hazardous chemicalsubstance per year must register with a central database. The aims ofthe proposed new regulation are to improve the protection of humanhealth and the environment, while maintaining the competitiveness. Morespecifically, some legislation attempts to give greater responsibilityto industry to manage the risks from chemicals and to provide safetyinformation on the substances.

Other existing and proposed regulation may affect more companies by notdistinguishing “old” and “new” chemicals, but applying to almost allchemical substances. In other words, it does not apply just to producersand/or companies placing chemicals on the market, but more of thedownstream process (excluding consumers though): the downstream user istreated similar to importers or manufacturers of a substance if he usesthe substance in a way not already registered by his supplier.

SUMMARY

The disclosure provides a method, software, and system for monitoringsubstances. In one embodiment, a method includes identifying a firstdocument associated with a business process of an enterprise. A firstvolume of a substance based, at least in part, on the business documentis determined. A second document associated with the business process ofthe enterprise is identified. A second volume of the substance based, atleast in part, on the business document is determined. The first volumeand the second volume is aggregated. A file associated with the businessprocess is updated with at least the aggregated volume.

Implementations can include one or more of the following features. Thematerial is currently possessed by the enterprise. The material is beingacquired by the enterprise. An amount of a material is identified based,at least in part, on the first document. The material includes thesubstance. A specification associated with the material is identified.The first volume of the substance is determined based, at least in part,on the material amount and the material specification. The materialcomprises a plurality of substances including the substance. A volumefor each of the plurality of substances is determined based, at least inpart, on the material amount and the specification. A plurality of filesbased, at least in part, on the determined volumes is updated. Each fileis associated with at least one of the plurality of substances. Thebusiness process comprises one of production, sales, or purchases.Aggregating the first volume and the second volume comprises adjustingthe first volume using the second volume. The first volume comprises avolume produced by the enterprise, the second volume comprises a volumeconsumed by the enterprise. A first material including the substance isidentified. The first volume is based, at least in part, on an amount ofthe first material. A second material including the substance isidentified. The second volume is based, at least in part, on an amountof the second material. The first material is different from the secondmaterial. A list of substances is associated with the enterprise. Thelist of substances identifies a plurality of substances including thesubstance. A plurality of documents is identified based, at least inpart, on the list of substances. A plurality of volumes of thesubstances is identified based, at least in part, on the plurality ofdocuments. A plurality of files is updated with the determined volumes.The plurality of files associated with the substances are identified inthe list of substances.

In some embodiments, a request from a user for a report associated withat least one substance is received. At least one document includingamounts of the at least one substance is identified. Volumes of the atleast one substance are determined. A report of the at least onesubstance is automatically generated based at least in part on thedetermined volumes.

Implementations can include one or more of the following features. Thematerial is currently possessed by the enterprise. Determining volumesincludes aggregating volumes of the at least one substance. A request toperform an action is received from a user. The action is automaticallyexecuted in response to at least the request. The at least one substanceis currently possessed by the enterprise. The at least one substance isbeing acquired by the enterprise. The report is displayed through aGraphical User Interface (GUI). A business process is identified based,at least in part, on the request. At least one document associated withthe business process is identified. The at least one document includesthe document. A plurality of materials associated with the businessprocess are identified. Each material includes the substance. Thebusiness process comprises one of production, sales, or purchases.

In some embodiments, a threshold associated with a substance managed byan enterprise is identified. At least one volume of the substance isidentified. A violation of the substance threshold is automaticallydetermined based, at least in part, on the at least one volume. Anaction is automatically determined in response to the violation.

Implementations can include one or more of the following features. Adocument associated with the substance is identified. An amount of amaterial associated with the document is identified. The materialincludes the substance. The at least one volume of the substance isdetermined based, at least in part, on the amount of the material. Aspecification associated with the material is identified. The at leastone volume of the substance is determined based, at least in part, onthe amount of the material. The threshold is identified in response, toat least, an event. The event comprises at least one of an expiration ofa period of time, an update of the at least one substance volume, or arequest by a user. The action comprises at least one of notifying anassociated user or locking an business document. A plurality of volumesof the substance are identified. The plurality of volumes include the atleast one volume. The plurality of volumes are aggregated. A violationof the threshold is determined based, at least in part, on theaggregated volumes.

The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth inthe accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features,objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thedescription and drawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system in accordance with someembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a tracking system 200 for tracking substance volumesin business processes in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a scenario system for providing tracking instructionsin accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 4A-C are flowcharts illustrating example methods for trackingsubstance volumes in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIGS. 5A-C are flowcharts illustrating example methods for monitoringsubstance volumes in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIGS. 6A-B are example displays for monitoring substance amounts by thetracking system of FIG. 2 in accordance with some embodiments;

FIGS. 7A-G are example displays for automatically monitoring substancein business processes;

FIG. 8 is an example display for monitoring substance in businessprocesses;

FIGS. 9A-C are flowcharts illustrating example methods for monitoringsubstance volumes and associated business documents in accordance withsome embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 10A-D are flowcharts illustrating example methods for monitoringsubstance volumes during production in accordance with some embodimentsof the present disclosure;

FIGS. 11A-C are flowcharts illustrating example methods for monitoringsubstance volumes during production for stock; and

FIGS. 12A-C are flowcharts illustrating example methods for monitoringsubstance volumes during sales and shipping material.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system 100 including various examplebusiness and regulatory entities involved in substance management. Forinstance, substances may include chemicals that pose an environmentaland/or biological hazard such that government regulations may placelimits on how these substances may be handled. Regulations may beenacted and enforced by federal, state, local, and/or other governmentagencies or enforcement organizations to provide sufficient safeguardsfor certain substances. For example, the regulations may require that aparticular substance not exceed a certain amount (e.g., volume), not bein proximity of another substance, not exceed a storage temperature, orviolate other suitable criteria. To avoid violating such a regulation, aparticipating or associated enterprise may need to determine volumesproduced, imported, or used not only on a material level but also on asubstance level. In addition, a portion of system 100 may avert ormodify a business process to maintain the handling of substances withincertain limits. The business process may include producing, consuming,purchasing, selling, importing, exporting, or performing other suitableactivities of an enterprise. In short, system 100 may perform one ormore of the following processes: determine amounts of imported orproduced substances, store these values and update on a regular basis,and monitor the tracked amounts.

In response to a substance violating or potentially violating aregulation, system 100 may perform remedial measures to reduce, prevent,minimize, or eliminate the violation such as, for example, preventingthe purchase, production, and/or acceptance of substances. For example,system 100 may track amounts of substances that will be handled in thefuture (planned amounts), as well as amounts of substances currentlyhandled (confirmed amounts). In response to the actual violation orpotential violation, system 100 may also or alternatively lock or denycertain documents associated with planned and/or confirmed amounts, suchas purchase orders, production orders, goods receipt, or other suitabledocuments. In doing so, business processes associated with the documentsmay be averted, thereby reducing, preventing, minimizing, or eliminatingthe actual or suspected violation of the regulation. In someembodiments, tracking and/or monitoring substances may include one ormore of the following processes: (a) periodically generating a reportfor the different amounts of materials; (b) generating offline checks(e.g., listing of amounts per period/scenario) for a user in system 100;and/or (c) integrating on-line checks directly into the logisticprocesses of production, purchasing and sales.

At a high level, the illustrated system 100 includes a manufacturer 110,a distributor 112, a vendor 114, a buyer 116, and a regulatory agency118. Of course, this illustration is for readability purposes only andsystem 100 may include other elements and/or different elements involvedin the distribution of substances as appropriate. Manufacturer 110 isgenerally an entity that manufacturers articles, substances, or othercommodities to sell and/or use. For example, manufacturer 100 maymanufacture chemical substances to sell to other entities such asdistributor 112, vendor 114, or buyer 116. Manufacturer 110 may engagein the production, preparation, propagation, compounding, conversion, orprocessing of substances, either directly or indirectly, by extractionfrom substances of natural origin, or independently by means of chemicalsynthesis, or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis. Insome instances, manufacturer 110 transforms, by means of tools and/orprocessing steps (e.g., chemical reactions), raw materials intosubstances for sale. Manufacturer 110 may include one or moremanufacturing facilities located at a single geographic location as wellas one or more remotely distributed manufacturing facilities. In thiscase, manufacturer 110 may follow guidelines for handling raw materialsas well as manufactured substances to increase, maximize, or otherwiseenhance safety. Such guidelines may be dictated by government regulationand/or internal guidelines provided by manufacturer 110 or some othermanagement. In tracking and monitoring substances associated withmanufacturer 110, manufacturer 110 may include a computing device 120 a(discussed in more detail in FIG. 2) that tracks and monitors substanceshandled by manufacturer 110. Computing device 120 a automatically tracksand monitors certain regulated substances, as well as provides reportsof certain substances to users of device 120 a for allowing offlinemonitoring. In response to determined or suspected violation of athreshold, device 120 a may automatically perform steps to reduce,minimize, or eliminate the violation.

Distributor 112 may be any entity that receives substances frommanufacturer 110 and distributes them to other entities for use.Typically, distributor 112 does not directly market, sell or otherwiseprovide substances to buyer 116 but, instead, provides substances tovendor 114. Distributor 112 may provide one or more of the followingservices associated with the substance: inventory, warehousing,distribution, and/or transportation. Since distributor 112 may notimmediately distribute substances received from manufacturer 110,distributor 112 may store or otherwise retain the received substancesfor a period of time. As a result, distributor 112 may follow guidelinesfor handling and/or retaining substances in order to minimize, reduce,or eliminate potential hazards caused by storing such chemicals, such aswithin a certain proximity of other or the same substances. As withmanufacturer 110, such guidelines may be dictated by governmentregulation and/or internal guidelines provided by distributor 112 orother associated entity (e.g., manufacturer 110). Distributor 112 mayinclude a single storage facility, multiple storage facilities at asingle site, or multiple storage facilities geographically distributed.

Vendor 114 is an entity that typically provides substances directly tobuyer 116. In some instances, vendor 114 buys or otherwise receivessubstances from distributor 112 and then may sell these substances tobuyer 116. As with distributor 112, vendor 114 may provide one or moreof the following services associated with the substance: inventory,warehousing, distribution, and/or transportation. As a result, vendor114 may not immediately distribute substances received from distributor112. In performing any of these services, vendor 114 may followguidelines for handling such substances. As discussed above, theguidelines may be provided by a government agency, such as regulatoryagency 118, and/or an internal agency, or the guidelines may be based,at least in part, on federal regulations and/or company regulations.Vendor 114 may include a single retail facility, one or more retailfacilities at a single geographic location, and/or a plurality of retailfacilities geographically distributed. In some cases, two or more of theillustrated entities may represent portions of the same legal entity oraffiliates. For example, manufacturer 110 and distributor 112 may bedepartments within one chemical company. In another example, themanufacturing chemical company may sell substances directly to certainbuyers 116 (say, a government agency) and provide substances to otherbuyers 116 via third party vendors 114.

Buyer 116 comprises any suitable individual or enterprise that consumesor otherwise uses substances and/or services associated with thesubstances within system 100. Typically, buyer 116 is an enterprise whoacquires or imports substances and/or associated services forconsumption, use, or enjoyment. After receiving substances, buyer 116may engage in the production, preparation, propagation, compounding,conversion, or processing of the received substances, either directly orindirectly by extraction from substances of natural origin, orindependently by means of chemical synthesis, or by a combination ofextraction and chemical synthesis. In some instances, buyer 116transforms, by means of tools and/or processing steps, substances intoother substances and/or services used by buyer 116. In processing,tooling, or otherwise consuming the received substances, regulatoryagency 118 may provide guidelines that buyer 116 may follow to reduce,minimize, or eliminate hazards associated with the substances. Forexample, buyer 116 may be a semiconductor manufacturer that consumeslarge amounts of deionized water when manufacturing integrated circuits.Since deionized water is a neurotoxin, the semiconductor buyer 116 maybe required by the Office of Health and Safety Association (OSHA) tohandle the deionized water with protective gear such as goggles, gloves,and long sleeve coats.

Regulatory agency 118 includes any suitable government and/or companyagency that regulates and and/or monitors certain operations. Typically,regulatory agency 118 is a government agency that is assigned to enforcelaws, regulations, and/or orders passed by legislative process. Forexample, regulatory agency 118 may be the Food and Drug Administration(FDA) that regulates the distribution of certain chemical substances. Insome instances, regulatory agency 118 monitors regulated operations suchas mining, waste disposal, dam construction, chemical manufacturing, andpublic water supply. In this case, regulatory agency 118 may assist indeveloping regulations, monitoring activities, enforcing laws andeducating the public. As mentioned above, regulatory agency 118 may bean internal or external agency that regulates substances handled by theenterprise. In this case, regulatory agency 118 may follow internalguidelines that reflect criteria at least partially established by agovernment entity.

In one aspect of operation, manufacturer 110 receives a purchase orderfor a substance 140 a. Manufacturer 110 produces the requested substanceor picks an already produced substance based, at least in part, on thepurchase order and ships (when appropriate) the substance 140 a todistributor 112. Distributor 112 may have received a purchase requestfrom vendor 114 for the substance 140 a prior to or after the requestwas transmitted to the manufacturer 110. In some embodiments,distributor 112 may have a standing order from vendor 114 for a certainamount of substance 140 a. After receiving sufficient substance 140 a,distributor 112 transmits at least a portion of the substance(illustrated as 140 b) to vendor 114. In turn, vendor 114 sells at leastsome of the substance (shown as 140 c) to buyer 116. During the overallprocess or individual business process, computer 120 may track andmonitor substance amounts in accordance with regulations provided byregulatory agency 118.

FIG. 2 illustrates a tracking system 200 for tracking substance volumesin business processes in accordance with one embodiment of the presentdisclosure. A business process may include producing, consuming,purchasing, selling, importing, exporting, and/or performing othersuitable activities of an enterprise. For example, semiconductorprocessing may include purchasing silicon, consuming acids, andde-ionized water when processing the silicon, producing integratedcircuits, and/or selling the packaged circuits to consumers, vendors, orother entities. As discussed above, certain substances 140 handled inbusiness processes may pose a biological and/or environmental hazard orpose other safety concerns such that their use is regulated bygovernment agencies and/or other agencies. To satisfy guidelines set byan agency such as regulatory agency 118, the enterprise may track andmonitor substances 140 to identify violations or potential violations aswell as take steps to avoid violations. Tracking may include confirmingamounts of substances currently stored, used, or otherwise handled aswell as determining amounts of substances that the enterprise isintending on acquiring. In some embodiments, system 200 may perform oneor more of the following processes: evaluate certain materialmovements/inventory booking with respect to their volumes/amounts, breakdown materials to a list of constituents (e.g., percentages), andcondense amounts based on constituents and business processes. Inresponse to processing the volume amounts, the enterprise may take stepsto satisfy guidelines that are intended to regulate the substances. Insome embodiments, the user may customize or adapt the defaultimplementation and, thus, allow the user to influence/change monitoringand tracking determinations.

To assist in tracking and monitoring substances in an enterprise, system200 may be a single computer 120 or any portion (including all) of adistributed system including at least one computer 120, perhapscommunicably coupled to a network 202. For example, computer 120 maycomprise a portion of an information management system that provides anumber of software applications to any number of clients. Alternatively,computer 120 may comprise a client processing information in adistributed information management system or enterprise network via oneor more software applications. Computer 120 is generally intended toencompass any suitable processing device. For example, although FIG. 2illustrates computer 120 that may be used with the disclosure, system200 may be any computer or processing device such as, for example, ablade server, a server pool, general-purpose personal computer (PC),Macintosh, workstation, Unix-based computer, or any other suitabledevice. In other words, the present disclosure contemplates computersother than general purpose computers as well as computers withoutconventional operating systems. Computer 120 may be adapted to executeany operating system including Linux, UNIX, Windows Server, or any othersuitable operating system. While computer 120 is illustrated asassociated with a single entity in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, computer 120 maybe distributed among multiple entities. For example, computer 120 maytrack and monitor substance volumes for both manufacturer 110 anddistributor 112. Alternatively, each element in FIG. 1 may include aseparate computer 120. In this case, the included computer 120 may trackand monitor substances in business processes associated with a singleelement. In the event that multiple elements include separate computers120, the different computers 120 may be incompatible. In the case ofincompatibility, computer 120 may include additional features and/orfunctions operable to translate or otherwise convert between formscompatible with the different computers 120. In some embodiments, theconversion may be transparent to a user of system 200. “Client,” “user,”and the particular entity may be used interchangeably as appropriate.Regardless, system 200 may be any system operable to track and monitorsubstance volumes and automatically generate a notification based, atleast in part, on a violation of criteria. The term “automatically,” asused herein, generally means that the appropriate processing issubstantially performed by at least a portion of the automated system.This configuration often provides a substantially flexible andinexpensive mechanism for automatically monitoring the handling ofregulated substance in business processes.

Computer 120 includes a Graphical User Interface (GUI) 203, networkinterface 205, memory 204, and processor 206. FIG. 2 only provides oneexample of a computer that may be used with the disclosure. The presentdisclosure contemplates computers other than general purpose computers,as well as computers without conventional operating systems. As used inthis document, the term “computer” is intended to encompass a mainframe,a personal computer, a client, a server, a workstation, a networkcomputer, a personal digital assistant, a mobile phone, or any othersuitable processing device. Computer 120 may be operable to receiveinput from and display output through GUI 203 for the particular user.

GUI 203 comprises a graphical user interface operable to allow the userof computer 120 to interact with processor 206. The term “computer 120”and the phrase “user of computer 120” may be used interchangeably, whereappropriate, without departing from the scope of this disclosure.Generally, GUI 203 provides the user of computer 120 with an efficientand user-friendly presentation of data provided by computer 120. GUI 203may comprise a plurality of displays having interactive fields,pull-down lists, and buttons operated by the user. And in one example,GUI 203 presents an explorer-type interface and receives commands fromthe user. It should be understood that the term graphical user interfacemay be used in the singular or in the plural to describe one or moregraphical user interfaces in each of the displays of a particulargraphical user interface. Further, GUI 203 contemplates any graphicaluser interface, such as a generic web browser, that processesinformation in computer 120 and efficiently presents the information tothe user. Network 202 can accept data from the user of computer 120 viathe web browser (e.g., Microsoft Internet Explorer or NetscapeNavigator) and return the appropriate HTML or extensible Markup Language(XML) responses.

Network 202 facilitates wireless or wireline communication betweensystem 200 and any other computer. Network 202 may communicate, forexample, Internet Protocol (IP) packets, Frame Relay frames,Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) cells, voice, video, data, and othersuitable information between network addresses. Network 202 may includeone or more local area networks (LANs), radio access networks (RANs),metropolitan area networks (MANs), wide area networks (WANs), all or aportion of the global computer network known as the Internet, and/or anyother communication system or systems at one or more locations. Computer120 may include network interface 205 for communicating with othercomputer systems over network 202 such as, for example, in aclient-server or other distributed environment. As appropriate, computer120 generates requests and/or responses and communicates them to anotherclient, user, server, or other computer systems located in or beyondnetwork 202. For example, computer 120 may receive data for documentsassociated with business processes. Generally, interface 205 compriseslogic encoded in software and/or hardware in any suitable combination toallow computer 120 to communicate with network 202. More specifically,interface 205 may comprise software supporting one or more communicationprotocols and communication hardware operable to communicate physicalsignals.

Memory 204 may include any memory or database module and may take theform of volatile or non-volatile memory including magnetic media,optical media, Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM),removable media, or any other suitable local or remote memory component.In the illustrated embodiment, memory 204 includes production businessdocuments 208, purchase business documents 210, sales business documents212, goods business documents 214, tracking documents 216, regulations218, and reports 220. Production business documents 208 includes one ormore entries or data structures that identifies materials that theassociated enterprise has and/or intends to produce or consume. In someembodiments, produced and consumed amounts are both included inproduction business documents 208 because consumed amounts may offsetproduced amounts. For example, production business document 208 may beassociated with a chemical manufacturer and indicate that a manufacturer110 produced two tons of hydrofluoric acid on a given date and consumedone ton of the acid on the same date at a given plant. As a result ofincluding both produced and consumed amounts, the produced amounts maybe offset by the consumed amounts before determining whether the actualamounts violate a regulation associated with the substance.

In general, production business document 208 may identify or includeinformation operable to identify one or more of the following: documentcategory, document type, material, order type, concentration, amountproduced, amount consumed, item category, production date, consumptiondate, production plant, storage location, consumption location, or anyother suitable information associated with the production and/orconsumption of material. The document category may identify technicalproperties of an associated production order. For example, productionbusiness document 208 may include one or more of the following documentcategories:

Doc. category Description 10 PP Production Order 40 Process OrderThe categories identified above are for illustration purposes only.Production business documents 208 may include the same, some, ordifferent categories without departing from the scope of thisdisclosure. In some embodiments, the document category may be used asstandard filter criteria to select specific production data. In someembodiments, production business document 208 includes a single documentcategory. The document type often identifies a purpose associated withproduction business document 208. For example, production businessdocuments 208 may include one or more of the following document types:

Document type Doc. category Description PP01 10 Standard productionorder PP02 10 Standard production order (external NA) PI01 40 Processorder (internal number assignment) PI02 40 Process order (externalnumber assignment)The types identified above are for illustration purposes only andproduction business documents 208 may include the same, some, ordifferent types without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Insome embodiments, the document types may be customized as filtercriteria and, thus, computer 120 may not track orders with certaindocument types. For example, computer 120 may not track orders having adocument type for “costing” because such orders may not include materialmass amounts. In some embodiments, production business documents includeone or more of the following item categories:

Item category Description L Stock item R Variable-size itemThe categories identified above are for illustration purposes only.Production business documents 208 may include the same, some, ordifferent categories without departing from the scope of thisdisclosure. The item category may also be used as a customized filtercriteria. For example, computer 120 may not track production orders withan item category of “document item” because the order may not havematerial mass amounts. Each production business document 208 may beassociated with an enterprise, a substance, a department of anenterprise, a date range, and/or any other suitable aspect ofproduction.

Purchase business documents 210 includes one or more entries or datastructures that identifies materials that an associated enterprise hasand/or intends to purchase and/or import. In some embodiments, purchasebusiness documents 210 may include both purchased and imported amountsbecause both types of amounts indicate substances that an entity isacquiring. For example, purchase business document 210 may be associatedwith a semiconductor manufacturer and indicates that the manufacturerpurchased two tons of hydrofluoric acid on a given date. As a result ofincluding both purchased and imported amounts, the purchased amounts maybe aggregated with the imported amounts before determining whether theactual amounts violate a regulation associated with the substance. Ingeneral, purchase business document 210 may identify or includeinformation operable to identify one or more of the following: documentcategory, document type, material, concentration, amount purchased,amount imported, item category, purchasing organization, order category,order type, purchase date, delivery date, import date, origination,storage location, or any other suitable information associated with thepurchasing and/or importing of material. The document category mayidentify technical properties of an associated production order. Forexample, purchase business document 210 may include one or more of thefollowing document categories:

Doc. category Description L Scheduling agreement F Purchase order BPurchase requisitionThe categories identified above are for illustration purposes only.Purchase business documents 210 may include the same, some, or differentcategories without departing from the scope of this disclosure. In someembodiments, a contract is a type of outline purchase agreement againstwhich release orders (releases) can be issued for agreed materials orservices as and when required during a certain overall time-frame. Insome embodiments, a quotation is an offer by a vendor to an enterpriseregarding the supply of materials or performance of services subject tospecified conditions. In some cases, a quotation includes the totalquantity of an item as well as the delivery date of an offered materialor service. Purchase business documents 210 may include one or more ofthe following documents types:

Type Doc category Description NB F Standard Purchase LP L Schedulingagreement LU L Transport schedule agreementThe types identified above are for illustration purposes only. Purchasebusiness documents 210 may include the same, some, or different typeswithout departing from the scope of this disclosure. In someembodiments, the document types may be customized as filter criteria,and, thus, computer 120 may not track orders with certain documenttypes. For example, computer 120 may not track orders having a documenttype “framework order” because such purchase orders may not includematerial mass amounts. Other purchase orders may not include massamounts and, thus, may not be useful as filter criteria such as, in someembodiments, value contracts. Each purchase business document 210 may beassociated with an enterprise, a substance, a department of anenterprise, a date range, and/or any other suitable aspect ofproduction.

Sales business documents 212 includes one or more entries or datastructures that identifies materials that an associated enterprise hasand/or intends to sell and/or export. In some embodiments, salesbusiness documents 212 include both sold amounts and exported amountsbecause both types of amounts indicate substances being removed from anentity. For example, sales business document 212 may be associated witha semiconductor manufacturer and indicates that the manufacturer soldtwo million central processing units (CPUs) and will export the CPUs intwo weeks. As a result of including both sold and exported amounts, thesold amounts may be aggregated with the export amounts beforedetermining whether the actual amounts violate a regulation associatedwith the substance. In general, sales business document 212 may identifyor include information operable to identify one or more of thefollowing: document category, document type, material, concentration,amount sold, amount exported, item category, sales organization, ordercategory, order type, sold date, delivery date, export date,destination, storage location, or any other suitable informationassociated with the selling and/or exporting of material. Sales businessdocument 212 may include one or more of the following documentcategories:

Document category Description C Order E Scheduling agreement J DeliveryThe categories identified above are for illustration purposes only.Sales business documents 212 may include the same, some, or differentcategories without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Salesbusiness documents 212 may include one or more of the following documenttypes:

Document type Document category Description DS E Scheduling Agreement DLE Document type Scheduling Agreement OR C Standard Order SO C Rush OrderThe types identified above are for illustration purposes only. Salesbusiness documents 212 may include the same, some, or different typeswithout departing from the scope of this disclosure. In someembodiments, the document types may be customized as filter criteria,and, thus, computer 120 may not track orders with certain documenttypes. For example, computer 120 may not track orders having a documenttype “sales information” because such purchase orders may not includematerial mass amounts. Sales business documents 212 may include one ormore of the following schedule line categories:

Schedule line category Document category Description CP C MRP CN C Nomat. planningThe schedule line categories identified above are for illustrationpurposes only. Sales business documents 212 may include the same, some,or different schedule line categories without departing from the scopeof this disclosure. In some embodiments, the document types may becustomized as filter criteria, and, thus, computer 120 may not trackorders with certain schedule line categories. For example, computer 120may not track orders having a schedule line category “no inventory mgmt”because such purchase orders may not include material mass amounts. Eachsales business document 212 may be associated with an enterprise, asubstance, a department of an enterprise, a date range, and/or any othersuitable aspect of production.

Goods business documents 214 includes one or more entries or datastructures that identifies materials that an associated enterprisereceives and/or delivers. For example, goods business document 214 maybe associated with a semiconductor manufacturer and indicates that themanufacturer received two million circuit mounts on a given date anddelivered the CPUs on another date. As a result of including both goodreceipts and goods issues, the receipts and issues may be used to verifyconfirmed substance amounts. For example, goods receipts may be used todetermine confirmed purchases data and/or repetitive manufacturing data.Goods issues may be used to determine delivery data and/or sales data.In general, goods business document 214 may identify or includeinformation operable to identify one or more of the following: documentcategory, document type, transaction/event type, material,concentration, amount received, amount delivered, item category, solddate, received date, delivery date, destination, storage location, orany other suitable information associated with the receiving and/ordelivering material. Goods business document 214 may include one or moreof the following transaction/event types:

Transaction/event type Description WF Goods receipt for order WE GoodsReceipt for Purchase Order WL Goods Issue for Delivery WS Goods movementin Repetitive Manufacturing WA GI, tfr. posting, other goods movementThe transaction/event types identified above are for illustrationpurposes only. Goods business documents 214 may include the same, some,or different transaction/event types without departing from the scope ofthis disclosure. In some embodiments, the transaction/event types may becustomized as filter criteria, and, thus, computer 120 may not trackorders with certain transaction/event types. For example, computer 120may not track orders having a transaction/event type “Inventory SamplingProcedure” because such purchase orders may not include material massamounts. Goods business documents 214 may include one or more of thefollowing document types:

Document type Description WA Goods issue WE Goods receiptThe types identified above are for illustration purposes only. Goodsbusiness documents 214 may include the same, some, or different typeswithout departing from the scope of this disclosure. In someembodiments, the document types may be customized as filter criteria,and, thus, computer 120 may not track orders with certain documenttypes. For example, computer 120 may not track orders having a documenttype “Price Change” because such purchase orders may not includematerial mass amounts. Each goods business document 214 may beassociated with an enterprise, a substance, a department of anenterprise, a date range, and/or any other suitable aspect ofproduction.

Tracking tables 216 includes one or more entries or data structures thatidentifies substance amounts in a business process. For example,tracking table 216 may include both planned and confirmed amounts of aparticular substance for manufacturer 110. In some embodiments, trackingtables 216 include aggregated planned amounts and aggregated confirmedamounts for a particular substance. Alone or in combination, trackingtables 216 may include aggregated amounts for associated businessprocesses. Tracking table 216 may be associated with any suitablecriteria. For example, tracking table 216 may include or otherwise beassociated with one or more of the following criteria: regulation,plant, material, specification, tracking substance, date, amount,planned amount, supplier, country of origin, country of receiver, orother suitable criteria associated with a substance and/or businessprocess.

Regulations 218 include any parameters, variables, algorithms,instructions, rules, objects or other directives for monitoringsubstances in distribution system 100. For example, regulation 218 maybe used to identify planned amounts of a particular substance that wouldviolate a government regulation and generate a notification in responseto the event. Such an event may include exceeding an amount, storagetemperature, proximity to other substances, violating a lower limit,violating an upper limit, or any other suitable event. As mentionedabove, a material may include one or more constituent substances. Inthis case, regulation 218 may include a material specification thatidentifies constituent substances. For example, regulation 218 mayidentify that a certain material includes both hydrogen peroxide anddeionized water in certain proportions. Based on this materialspecification, computer 120 may determine amounts for each substancebased, at least in part, on the material specification. In addition tomonitoring substances in accordance with regulations, regulations 218may also include or otherwise identify actions for computer 120 toperform in response to the event. For example, the actions may includeone or more of the following: display message through GUI 203, transmitmessage to a user, block document associated with a business process(e.g., purchase order), or any other suitable process.

Based, at least in part on tracking tables 216, reports 220 include oneor more entries or data structures that identifies informationassociated with a tracked substance in system 100. For example, report220 may identify planned amounts and confirmed amounts of a substance ina particular business process for displaying through GUI 203. Report 220may be based on any suitable criteria. For example, report 220 may beassociated with one or more of the following criteria: regulation,plant, material, specification, tracking substance, date, amount,planned amount, supplier, country of origin, country of receiver, orother suitable criteria associated with a substance and/or businessprocess. In some embodiments, report 220 includes aggregated substanceamounts for display through GUI 203. In addition, report 220 may includeinformation identifying actions that a user of computer 120 may performin response to displayed information. For example, report 220 mayinclude instructions for displaying a graphical element that the usermay select to block a business document associated with the substance.

In general, business documents 208, purchase business documents 210,sales business documents 212, goods business documents 214, trackingtables 216, regulations 218, and reports 220 may be stored in anysuitable format such as, for example, an eXtensible Markup Language(XML) document, a flat file, comma separated value (CSV) file, aname-value pair file, SQL table, or others. Indeed, each businessdocument 208, purchase business document 210, sales business document212, goods business document 214, tracking table 216, regulation 218,and report 220 may be a temporary or a persistent data structure withoutdeparting from the scope of the disclosure. Business documents 208,purchase business documents 210, sales business documents 212, goodsbusiness documents 214, tracking tables 216, regulations 218, andreports 220 may be created, updated, or supplied by computer 120, athird-party software vendor, or any appropriate user of any computer insystem 100, loaded from a default profile, or received via network 202.

Processor 206 executes instructions and manipulates data to performoperations of computer 120. Although FIG. 2 illustrates a singleprocessor 120 in computer 110, multiple processors 206 may be usedaccording to particular needs, and reference to processor 206 is meantto include multiple processors 206 where applicable. In the illustratedembodiment, processor 206 executes tracking engine 222, monitoringengine 224, and reporting engine 226 at any appropriate time such as,for example, in response to a request or input from a user of computer120 or any appropriate computer system coupled with network 202.Tracking engine 222 is any software operable to track substance amountsin business processes of system 100. In some embodiments, trackingengine 222 may identify relevant material and the constituents of thematerial in one or more business processes, determine substance volumesof the identified constituents, and update tracking tables 216 with thesubstance volumes along with associated information (e.g., plant,country, date). In determining substance volumes, tracking engine 222may determine planned and confirmed substance amounts based, at least inpart, on production business documents 208, purchase business documents210, and/or sales business documents 212 and automatically generateand/or update tracking tables 216 based, at least in part, on theplanned and confirmed amounts. In some embodiments, prior to updatingtracking tables 216, tracking engine 222 may condense or otherwiseaggregate substance amounts based, at least in part, on associatedbusiness processes. For example, tracking engine 222 may add confirmedamounts for a particular business process and add planned amounts forthe particular process and update tracking tables 216 with theaggregated confirmed amounts and the aggregated planned amounts.

Tracking engine 222 may determine amounts of a substance based on anysuitable process. For example, in production, tracking engine 222 maydetermine the amount of a substance based on the output of a chemicalreaction. In this case, tracking engine 222 may determine whethersubstances are produced or consumed during a chemical reaction. In someembodiments, tracking engine 222 may perform the following steps: (a)determine all constituents (on substance level) for each material on theinput side of the chemical reaction; (b) determine all constituents (onsubstance level) for the material on the output side of the chemicalreaction; (c) calculate the ‘percentage contained’ for each substance onthe input and output side; (d) calculate the difference between theoutput amount and the input amount for each identical substance; and (e)identify the substance is produced if the difference is greater thanzero, consumed if the difference is negative, or neither if thedifference is zero. In some embodiments, tracking engine 222 may performthe following steps: (a) determine constituents (on the substance level)for each material on the input side of the chemical reaction; (b)determine constituents (on the substance level) for the material on theoutput side of the chemical reaction; (c) calculate the ‘percentagecontained’ for each substance on the output side which does not appearon the input side; and (d) calculate the amount of the produced materialby multiplying the amount of the material produced times the percentage.In the case of determining purchased amounts, tracking engine 222 mayperform the following steps: (a) determine whether the purchase is animport or not; (b) identify amount of purchased material from purchasedbusiness documents 210 (e.g., purchase order, purchase requisition,goods receipt); (c) determine constituents (on substance level) for thematerial; and (d) calculate ‘percentage contained’ for each substance.

Tracking engine 222 may filter the retrieved planned and confirmed datain accordance with certain criteria. For example, the criteria mayidentify particular substances or materials including particularsubstances that are regulated. As a result, tracking engine 222 may nottrack unregulated substances. Other suitable criteria for filteringsubstance amounts may include a classification of a material, a tag,date range, plant, and/or other suitable filters associated withregulated substances. Since tracking engine 222 may track materialsincluding one or more regulated substances, tracking engine 222 maybreak down the material into its constituent substances or otherwiseidentify the constituent substances of the material. In doing so,tracking engine 222 may be able to separate regulated and unregulatedsubstances that are included in a material and only track the regulatedsubstance. Tracking engine 222 may update tracking tables 216 with theplanned and confirmed amounts of regulated substances. In someembodiments, tracking engine 222 may combine, condense, or otherwiseaggregate the planned amounts and the confirmed amounts prior toupdating tracking tables 216. For example, tracking engine 222 maydetermine planned amounts of a particular substance based on productionbusiness documents 208 and aggregate the planned amounts for thatparticular substance. Tracking engine 222 may perform a similaroperation for both purchased business documents 210 and sales businessdocuments 212 and update tracking tables 216 with each of the aggregatedplanned amounts. Tracking engine 222 may also aggregate confirmedamounts for the particular substances for each set of businessdocuments.

Monitoring engine 224 includes any software operable to monitorsubstances in distribution system 100. For example, monitoring engine224 may identify criteria included in regulations 218 and compare thecriteria to planned and confirmed amounts in tracking tables 216. Asdiscussed above, the criteria may include amount limits, relativelimits, proximity limits, upper limits, lower limits, or other suitablecriteria. In response to at least the planned amount or the confirmedamount of a substance violating criteria, monitoring engine 224 mayautomatically generate a notification and, alone or in combination,perform an action to reduce, prevent, eliminate, or minimize aviolation. In some embodiments, monitoring engine 224 retrieves orotherwise identifies the action from an associated regulation 218.Monitoring engine 224 may automatically perform one or more of thefollowing actions: display message through GUI 203, transmit a mailmessage to a user of computer 120, lock a document associated with theviolation (e.g., purchase order), or any other suitable action.Monitoring engine 224 may perform one or more actions in response to anysuitable event. For example, monitoring engine 224 may automaticallyperform an action in response to updates to tracking tables 216. In someexamples, monitoring engine 224 performs an action in response to arequest received through GUI 203. In the event that the tracking tables216 are subsequently updated, monitoring engine 224 may again comparethe planned amounts and the confirmed amounts to regulation 118. Ifmonitoring engine 224 determines that the amounts no longer violateregulation 118, then monitoring engine 224 may automatically perform anaction such as releasing a locked document (e.g., purchase order).

Reporting engine 226 includes any suitable hardware, software, firmware,or combination thereof operable to generate reports 220 in response toany suitable event. For example, reporting engine 226 may receive arequest to generate a report 220 for a particular substance via GUI 203and generate report 220 for the substance in response to at least therequest. In generating such report 220, the user may perform offlinechecks to verify that the planned amounts and the confirmed amounts donot violate regulations. In some embodiments, reporting engine 226retrieves or otherwise identifies tracking data in tracking tables 216based on selected parameters. The parameters may include period,regulation, material, tracked substances or any other suitable criteria.Reports 220 may include one or more of the following: warning icon(e.g., traffic light), regulatory list, year, material, plant,specification, tracked specification, date, amount, unit of amount,concentration of a tracked substance, concentration unit, company code,period, or other parameters. In addition to displaying report 220through GUI 203, reporting engine 226 may also provide interactiveelements such that the user may perform an action (e.g., custom buttons,menu exits) in response to the offline check. For example, reportingengine 226 may enable the user to block a document and, thus, block abusiness process.

Regardless of the particular implementation, “software” may includesoftware, firmware, wired or programmed hardware, or any combinationthereof as appropriate. Indeed, tracking engine 222, monitoring engine224, and reporting engine 226 may be written or described in anyappropriate computer language including C, C++, Java, J#, Visual Basic,assembler, Perl, any suitable version of 4GL, as well as others. It willbe understood that while tracking engine 222, monitoring engine 224, andreporting engine 226 are illustrated in FIG. 2 as including individualmodules, each of tracking engine 222, monitoring engine 224, andreporting engine 226 may include numerous other sub-modules or mayinstead be a single multi-tasked module that implements the variousfeatures and functionality through various objects, methods, or otherprocesses. Further, while illustrated as internal to computer 120, oneor more processes associated with tracking engine 222, monitoring engine224, and/or reporting engine 226 may be stored, referenced, or executedremotely. For example, a portion of tracking engine 222 may be a webservice that is remotely called, while another portion of trackingengine 222 may be an interface object bundled for processing at a remoteclient. Moreover, tracking engine 222, monitoring engine 224, and/orreporting engine 226 may be a child or sub-module of another softwaremodule or enterprise application (not illustrated) without departingfrom the scope of this disclosure.

In one aspect of operation, tracking engine 222 identifies plannedamounts and/or confirmed amounts of a particular substance based, atleast in part, on business documents. Tracking engine 222 may identifythe planned and confirmed amounts in response to an event. For example,the event may be a request from a user, a period of time, update totracking tables 216, or any other suitable event. After determiningplanned amounts and/or confirmed amounts of the particular substance,tracking engine 222 updates one or more tracking tables 216. In someembodiments, prior to updating tracking tables 216, tracking engine 222aggregates the planned amounts and the confirmed amounts, and trackingengine 222 updates tracking tables 216 using the aggregated amounts. Forexample, tracking engine 222 identifies planned amounts of theparticular substance using production business documents 208. In someembodiments, tracking engine 222 identifies planned amounts inaccordance with associated criteria such as, for example, location,period, company, or other suitable criteria. After identifying theplanned amounts, tracking engine 222 may combine or otherwise aggregatethe identified planned amounts and update associated tracking tables 216based, at least in part, on the aggregated planned amounts. Similarly,tracking engine 222 may identify confirmed amounts of the particularsubstance, aggregate the identified confirmed amounts, and updateassociated tracking tables 216 based, at least in part, on theaggregated confirmed amounts. Tracking engine 222 may perform the sameprocesses on purchase business documents 210 and sales businessdocuments 212.

After the associated tracking tables 216 are updated, monitoring engine224 may determine whether the planned amounts and/or the confirmedamounts violate associated regulations 218. In some embodiments,monitoring engine 224 identifies criteria associated with the particularsubstance using regulations 218 and the planned amounts and/or confirmedamounts of the particular substance using tracking tables 216.Monitoring engine 224 may then compare the identified criteria with theidentified planned amounts and/or the identified confirmed amounts todetermine whether either or both amounts violate regulation 218. Inresponse to determining a violation, monitoring engine 224 may performone or more actions. For example, monitoring engine 224 may transmit anotification to a user of computer 120, lock a document associated withthe substance to prevent or delay a business process (e.g., purchaseorder), display a notification through GUI 203, or perform othersuitable actions. In one embodiment, monitoring engine 224 identifiesthe one or more actions using regulations 218.

In addition to automatically monitoring substances, reporting engine 226may generate a report 220 in response to any suitable event. Forexample, reporting engine 226 may generate report 220 in response to arequest by a user, expiration of a period of time, or other suitableevents. In generating report 220, reporting engine 226 may identify oneor more tracking tables 216 associated with a particular substance.Other critieria may be used to filter associated tracking tables 216such as business process, plant, period, or others. Based, at least inpart, on tracking tables 216, reporting engine 226 may generate report220 and generate a presentation of the report through GUI 203 based, atleast in part, on report 220. In addition to presenting a report,reporting engine 226 may present graphical elements through GUI 203enabling the user to select actions for computer 120 to perform. Forexample, reporting engine 226 may receive a request from the user toblock a document associated with a business process.

FIG. 3 illustrates a scenario system 300 for providing trackinginstructions in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.For example, system 300 may provide instructions or otherwise provideinformation that identifies instructions for determining tracking datafor a given business process. In some embodiments, regulations 218includes the data structure illustrated in system 300. In this case,tracking engine 222 may identify the tracking scenario in regulations218 and process business documents in accordance with system 300. At ahigh level, system 300 includes scenario description 302, scenario 304,scenario categories 306 and 308, and scenario category description 310.However, system 300 is for illustration purposes only and may includesome, none, or all of the elements without parting from the scope ofthis disclosure.

Scenario description 302 is operable to identify information associatedwith a business process identified by scenario 304. For example,scenario description 302 may identify a period, location, or othersuitable information associated with a business process. As mentionedabove, scenario 304 is operable to identify a tracking scenario forsubstances in a business process of system 100. For example, scenario304 may include vendor 114 importing a particular substance amount.Scenario 304 may also assist in providing or otherwise identifyingprocesses for determining tracking data within the identified scenario.For example, scenario 304 may define one or more of the followingprocesses: how to determine relevant materials, how to determinerelevant substances, how to get the constituents, how to condensetracking data, and how to save tracking data. In some embodiments,scenario 304 defines one or more of these processes in combination withone or more regulations 218. Scenario 304 may be associated with one ormore scenario categories.

Scenario category description 310 is operable to identify informationassociated with a scenario category identified by scenario category 308.For example, scenario category description 310 may identify technicalproperties of the identified scenario category 308 enabling trackingengine 222 to receive tracking data. As mentioned above, scenario 304may belong or otherwise be associated with one or more scenariocategories. In the import example, scenario 304 may be associated withthe following two scenario categories: purchase order and purchaserequisition order. In the event that a user of computer 120 only wantsto track purchase orders, the relationship link between scenario 304 andthe appropriate scenario category may be removed. Scenario categories306 and 308 may define or otherwise identify one or more of thefollowing processes: how to read planned data, how to read confirmeddata, how to fill tracking tables 216, and how to separate read data(e.g., special filters such as “purchase is an import”). In addition,scenario system 300 provides standard customizing such as illustrated inthe table below.

Scenario Scenario description Linked scenario category CON Consumedamounts Production PRO Produced amounts Production IMP Imported amountsPurchase IMP Imported amounts Purchase requisition EXP Exported amountsSales EXP Exported amounts Delivery SO Sold amounts Sales SO Soldamounts DeliveryThe customizable scenarios identified above are for illustrationpurposes only. Scenario system 300 may include the same, some, ordifferent elements without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

FIGS. 4A-C are flowcharts illustrating example methods 400, 430, and 460for tracking substance volumes in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent disclosure. Generally, methods 400, 430, and 460 describeexample techniques for tracking engine 222 to identify planned andconfirmed substance volumes for certain business processes, determineaggregate planned amounts and confirmed amounts for each businessprocess, and update associated tracking tables 216 based, at least inpart, on the aggregated planned amounts and the aggregated confirmedamounts. The following descriptions will focus on the operation oftracking engine 222 in performing this method. But system 200contemplates using any appropriate combination and arrangement oflogical elements implementing some or all of the describedfunctionality.

Referring to FIG. 4A, method 400 begins at step 402 where trackingengine 222 retrieves planned amounts of a material from productionbusiness documents 208. At step 404, tracking engine 222 retrievesconfirmed amounts of the material from production business documents208. Next, at step 406, tracking engine 222 filters the retrievedamounts to identify the relevant material amounts. As discussed above,the filters or other criteria may be, for example, a period, a plant,and/or other suitable criteria. After filtering for relevant materials,tracking engine 222 determines the relevant planned amounts and therelevant confirmed amounts at step 408. At step 410, tracking engine 222retrieves or otherwise identifies a specification of the materialindicating the constituent substances. Next, at step 412, trackingengine 222 determines the planned amounts and the confirmed amounts foreach constituent substance. Tracking engine 222 then determines theproduced amounts and the consumed amounts for both the planned amountsand the confirmed amounts for each tracked substance at step 414. Next,at step 416, tracking engine 222 condenses the produced amounts and theconsumed amounts for each tracked substance. In some embodiments, theconsumed amounts are subtracted from the produced amounts. At step 418,tracking engine 222 updates associated tracking tables 216 using thecondensed planned amounts for each tracked substance. Similarly, at step420, tracking engine 222 updates associated tracking tables 216 usingthe condensed confirmed amounts for each tracked substance.

Referring to FIG. 4B, method 430 begins at step 432 where trackingengine 222 retrieves planned amounts of a material from purchasedbusiness documents 210. At step 434, tracking engine 222 retrievesconfirmed amounts of the material from purchased business documents 210.Next, at step 436, tracking engine 222 filters the retrieved amounts toidentify the relevant material amounts. As discussed above, the filtersor other criteria may be, for example, a period, a vendor, a location,and/or other suitable criteria. After filtering for relevant materials,tracking engine 222 determines the relevant planned amounts and therelevant confirmed amounts at step 438. At step 440, tracking engine 222retrieves or otherwise identifies a specification of the materialindicating the constituent substances. Next, at step 442, trackingengine 222 determines the planned amounts and the confirmed amounts foreach constitutent substance. Tracking engine 222 then determines theimported amounts and the not imported amounts for both the plannedamounts and the confirmed amounts for each tracked substance at step444. Next, at step 446, tracking engine 222 condenses the importedamounts and the not imported amounts for each tracked substance. At step448, tracking engine 222 updates associated tracking tables 216 usingthe condensed planned amounts for each tracked substance. Similarly, atstep 450, tracking engine 222 updates associated tracking tables 216using the condensed confirmed amounts for each tracked substance.

Referring to FIG. 4C, method 460 begins at step 462 where trackingengine 222 retrieves planned amounts of a material from sales businessdocuments 212. At step 464, tracking engine 222 retrieves confirmedamounts of the material from sales business documents 212. Next, at step466, tracking engine 222 filters the retrieved amounts to identify therelevant material amounts. As discussed above, the filters or othercriteria may be, for example, a period, a customer, a location, and/orother suitable criteria. After filtering for relevant materials,tracking engine 222 determines the relevant planned amounts and therelevant confirmed amounts at step 468. At step 470, tracking engine 222retrieves or otherwise identifies a specification of the materialindicating the constituent substances. Next, at step 472, trackingengine 222 determines the planned amounts and the confirmed amounts foreach constituent substance. Tracking engine 222 then determines theexported amounts and the not exported amounts for both the plannedamounts and the confirmed amounts for each tracked substance at step474. Next, at step 476, tracking engine 222 condenses the exportedamounts and the not exported amounts for each tracked substance. At step478, tracking engine 222 updates associated tracking tables 216 usingthe condensed planned amounts for each tracked substance. Similarly, atstep 480, tracking engine 222 updates associated tracking tables 216using the condensed confirmed amounts for each tracked substance.

FIGS. 5A-C are flowcharts illustrating example methods 500, 520, and 540for monitoring substance volumes in accordance with one embodiment ofthe present disclosure. Generally, methods 500, 520, and 540 describeexample techniques for monitoring engine 224 to monitor planned andconfirmed substance volumes for certain business processes, determinewhether the planned and/or confirmed amounts violate associatedregulations, and execute an action in response to at least determining aviolation of an associated regulation. The following descriptions willfocus on the operation of monitoring engine 224 in performing thismethod. But system 100 contemplates using any appropriate combinationand arrangement of logical elements implementing some or all of thedescribed functionality.

Referring to FIG. 5A, method 500 begins at decisional step 502 wheremonitoring engine 224 determines if tracking tables 216 include trackingdata for a particular substance. If tracking tables 216 do not includethe particular tracking data, then execution ends. If tracking tables216 include tracking data for the particular substance, then executionproceeds to decisional step 504. If the retrieved tracking data is notrelevant at decisional step 504, then execution ends. As discussedabove, relevancy of the tracking data can be determined based on anyappropriate criteria. For example, the criteria may be a period, abusiness process, a location, or other suitable criteria. If theretrieved tracking data is relevant, then monitoring engine 224identifies the planned amounts and the confirmed amounts based on anysuitable criteria such as, for example, company code level. If theamounts are within specified limits at decisional step 508, thenexecution hands. As discussed above, the limits may be based on aregulation limit, special limit, a limit specified by a user of computer120, or any other suitable limit. If one or more of the amounts violateone or more specified limits at decisional step 508, then monitoringengine 224 automatically executes an action. Actions may includedisplaying a message via GUI 203, transmitting a message to a specifiedindividual, blocking the release of document (e.g., purchase order,production order), and/or other suitable actions.

Referring to FIG. 5B, method 520 begins at step 522 where monitoringengine 224 aggregates planned amounts and confirmed amounts of aparticular substance. If the aggregated amounts do not exceed associatedlimits at decisional step 524, then execution ends. As mentioned above,the associated limits may include or otherwise be based on governmentregulations, company regulations, or other suitable sources. If theaggregated amounts exceed at least one of the associated limits atdecisional step 524, then monitoring engine 224 generates and displaysgraphical elements to indicate the violation at step 526.

Referring to FIG. 5C, method 542 begins at step 542 where monitoringengine 224 identifies a current amount in tracking tables 216 for aparticular substance. If the particular substance does not haveassociated registered limits at decisional step 544, then executionproceeds to decisional step 546. If the amounts of the particularsubstance do not violate general limits at decisional step 546, thenexecution ends. If the amounts of the particular substance do violategeneral limits, then execution proceeds to step 554. Returning todecisional step 544, if the particular substance does have associatedregistered limits, then execution proceeds to decisional step 548. Ifthe particular substance has associated specific limits, then executionproceeds to decisional step 550. If the tracking amounts of theparticular substance do not violate the associated specific limits, thenexecution ends. If the tracking amounts of the particular substanceviolate the specific limits, then execution proceeds to step 554.Returning to decisional step 548, if specific limits of the particularsubstance do not exist, then execution proceeds to decisional step 552.If the identified tracking amounts do not match relative limits, thenexecution ends. If the identified tracking amounts violate relativelimits at decisional step 552, then monitoring engine 224 executes anaction in response to at least the violation. For example, monitoringengine 224 or may display a warning through GUI 203, block an associatedbusiness document, generate an icon, and/or perform other suitableactions.

FIGS. 6A-B are example displays 600 and 610, respectively, formonitoring substance amounts by computer 120 in accordance with oneembodiment of system 100. It will be understood that the illustratedpages are for example purposes only. Accordingly, GUI 203 may include orpresent data, such as substance amounts and associated information, inany format or descriptive language and each page may present anyappropriate data in any layout without departing from the scope of thedisclosure.

Turning to the illustrated embodiments, FIG. 6A illustrates a display600 for providing information associated with a transaction. In thisdisplay 600, the user may examine information associated with aparticular business process. For example, display 600 may presentinformation associated with the purchase of a substance on a particularday. In the illustrated embodiment, display 600 includes document dataview 602 and scenario category view 604. Document data view 602 maydisplay information associated with a document including transactioninformation. For example, document data view 602 may present informationassociated with a business document, such as, for example, productionbusiness documents 208, purchase business documents 210, and salesbusiness documents 212. In the illustrated embodiments, document dataview 602 includes fields for displaying the following informationassociated with a document identifying a transaction: document number,position, and created on. Document data view 602 may include otherinformation to assist the user in identifying the document associatedwith a particular transaction. Scenario category view 604 may includeinformation associated with the scenario category of a business process.For example, scenario category view 604 may identify the scenariocategory of a business process. In the illustrated embodiment, scenariocategory view 604 includes a field that identifies the scenario categoryof a business process (e.g., purchase).

Referring to FIG. 6B, display 610 presents information associated withvalue limit checks in accordance with one embodiment of the presentdisclosure. As discussed above, monitoring engine 224 may perform valuelimit checks on the following three types of value limits: general valuelimits, relative value limits, and substance value limits. Monitoringengine 224 may perform some, all, or different value limit checks ormonitor other suitable parameters of a particular substance. Each of thevalue limits may include or otherwise identify one or more of thefollowing: regulatory list, registration level (e.g., 1. level:<ton, 2.level: 1-10 tons, 3. level: 10-100 tons), scenario, lower limit, upperlimit, relative limit, flag display message, flag mail message, or flagblock message. In the illustrated embodiment, display 610 presentsinformation associated with special value limits. Display 610 includeslimit display 612 and value display 616. Limit display 612 identifies aparticular substance and the special value limit associate with thesubstance. In some embodiments, limit display 612 includes limit table614 for displaying information associated with the limits. In the eventthat the particular substance is associated with a plurality of limits,the user may select a limit in limit table 614 and then value display616 may be populated with appropriate values. Value display 616 displaysinformation associated with limits of the particular substance. In theillustrated embodiment, value display 616 includes the following tabs:value assignment, usage, sources, assessment, and user-defined texts. Auser may then view information associated with the different tabs byselecting the appropriate tab. As illustrated, the value-assignment tabis selected and, thus, value display 616 displays information associatedwith value assignment. As mentioned above, limits include associatedparameters. The user may view and/or modify the value of theseparameters through value display 616. In the illustrated embodiment,value display 616 present values for the following parameters:regulatory list, scenario, error type, relative limit, display message,mail message, and block logistic process. These parameters are forillustration purposes only and may include some, all, or differentparameters without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

FIGS. 7A-G are example displays for automatically monitoring substancein business processes. As mentioned above, monitoring engine 224 maysuspend and/or allow the business process by blocking and/or releasingassociated business documents. For example, business documents mayinclude production documents (e.g., production order, process order),purchase requisition, purchase documents (e.g., scheduling agreement,purchase order), sales documents (e.g., orders, scheduling agreement,contract), and delivery documents. It will be understood that theillustrated pages are for example purposes only. Accordingly, GUI 203may include or present data in any format or descriptive language andeach page may present any appropriate data in any layout withoutdeparting from the scope of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 7A, display 700 illustrates an overview of a displaystatus profile. In the illustrated embodiment, display 700 includes thestatus table 702 that includes a number of rows and a number of columns.The intersection of a row and column form a cell that containsinformation. Status table 702 includes at least two columns: Statusprofile and Text. In this embodiment, the text provides a briefdescription of the status profile. A user may select a status profile toview and/or update associated information. For example, the user mayselect EHS_PRO to view substance volume tracking information inproduction as indicated by the dashed box.

Referring to FIG. 7B, monitoring engine 224 may present display 710 inresponse to a selection in display 700. In the illustrated embodiment,monitoring engine 224 presents transaction controls associated with theselected status profile. Display 710 includes a status profile field712, a status field 714, and a business control table 716. Display 710is for illustration purposes only and may include some, all, ordifferent elements. Status profile field 712 indicates the statusprofile associated with the display. As illustrated, the status profileis EHS_PROD, which is tracking substance volumes in production. Businesscontrol table 716 displays actions that monitoring engine 224 mayperform in response to a limit violation. In particular, control table716 identifies a graphical element associated with actions thatmonitoring engine 224 may perform. As illustrated, the actions are asfollows: no influence, allowed, warning, and disabled. As indicated bydisplay 710, the release order of a produced product is disabled in theevent of a violation. Control table 716 includes additional graphicalelements associated with additional actions that monitoring engine 224may perform.

Referring to FIG. 7C, monitoring engine 224 may present informationassociated with a process order as illustrated in display 720. Forexample, monitoring engine 224 may retrieve information associated witha process order from tracking tables 216 and populate display 720 withthe associated information. In the illustrated embodiment, display 720includes a process order field 722, a material field 724, and a statusfield 726. Process order field 722 indicates the order number associatedwith the business process. The material field 724 indicates the materialproduced in the business process. The user may view additionalinformation through order display 728. As illustrated, order display 728includes tabs indicating different types of data that the user may view.The illustrated tabs are general data, assignment, goods receipt,control data, dates/qtys, master data, and others. The general data isselected in order display 728 and indicates the quantity of the materialthat will be produced.

Referring to FIG. 7D, processor 206 presents information associated withpurchase requisition in display 730. Monitoring engine 224 may retrievethe information from tracking tables 216. In some embodiments, trackingengine 222 retrieves the information from sales business documents 212and presents the information through display 730. Display 730 includes aproduction order field 732, a materials' table 734, and a materialinformation view 736. In some embodiments, production order field 732identifies a production order number. Materials table 734 identifiesmaterials included in the purchase requisition, as well as displaysassociated information. Materials table 734 includes columns and rowswhose intersection forms a cell. The cell may display informationassociated with the material. In the illustrated embodiment, materialstable 734 includes the following columns: status, item, material name,short text, quantity, unit, delivery date, plant, and storage location.The user may view additional information associated with a materiallisted in materials table 734 by selecting the material. In response toat least a selection in materials table 734, tracking engine 222 maypopulate material information view 736 with information associated withthe selected material. In the illustrated embodiment, materialinformation view 736 includes the following eight tabs: material data,quantities/dates, valuation, source of supply, status, contact person,texts, and delivery address. The user may view information associatedwith the tab by selecting the tab. As illustrated, the delivery addresstab is selected so, in this example, material information view 736presents the delivery address of the material selected in materialstable 734.

Referring to FIG. 7E, monitoring engine 224 may present the message 740in response to a tracked substance violating a limit. Message 740includes message table 742. Message table 742 includes two columnslabeled: Typ and Message Text. Message table 742 conveys informationassociated with monitoring criteria for the substance.

Referring to FIG. 7F, processor 206 presents information associated witha purchase order in display 750. Monitoring engine 224 may retrieve theinformation from tracking tables 216. In some embodiments, trackingengine 222 retrieves the information from purchase business documents210 and presents the information through display 750. Display 750includes a production a materials table 754 and a material informationview 758. Materials table 754 identifies materials included in thepurchase order, as well as displays associated information. Materialstable 754 includes columns and rows whose intersection forms a cell. Thecell may display information associated with a material. In theillustrated embodiment, materials table 754 includes the followingcolumns: status, item, material name, short text, PO quantity, deliverydate, net price, and currency. The user may view additional informationassociated with a material listed in materials table 754 by selectingone of the displayed materials. In response to at least a selection intable 754, tracking engine 222 may populate material information view758 with information associated with the selected material. For example,tracking engine 222 may retrieve information from associated purchasebusiness documents 210 In the illustrated embodiment, materialinformation view 758 includes the following eight tabs: material data,quantities/weights, delivery schedule, delivery, invoice, conditions,and texts. The user may view information associated with tab title byselecting the tab. As illustrated, the material-data tab is selected so,in this example, material information view 758 presents the materialdata of the material selected in materials table 754.

Referring to FIG. 7G, monitoring engine 224 may present the message 760in response to a tracked substance violating a limit. Message 760includes message table 762. Message table 762 includes two columnslabeled: Typ and Message Text. Message table 762 conveys informationassociated with monitoring criteria for the substance.

FIG. 8 is an example display 800 for monitoring substance in businessprocesses. As mentioned above, monitoring engine 224 may monitorsubstances in business processes based on suitable parameters orcriteria. For example, example monitoring engine 224 may monitor asubstance based on a period, a plant, a company code, or other suitablecriteria. It will be understood that the illustrated page is for examplepurposes only. Accordingly, GUI 203 may include or present data in anyformat or descriptive language and each page may present any appropriatedata in any layout without departing from the scope of the disclosure.Display 800 includes a parameter view 802 for presenting and/orreceiving updates of parameters associated with monitoring a substance.In the illustrated embodiment, parameter view includes the followingfields: business scenario, regulatory list, material document year,period, material, specification, tracked ID, plant, sales organization,and company code. It will be understood that these parameters are forillustration purposes only. Parameter view 802 may include some, none,or all of the illustrated parameter fields without departing from thescope of this disclosure.

FIGS. 9A-C are flowcharts illustrating example methods 900, 928, and 950for monitoring substance volumes and associated business documents inaccordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. Generally,methods 900, 928, and 950 describe example techniques for monitoringengine 224 to monitor business documents for certain business process,determine whether the planned and/or confirmed amounts violateassociated regulations, and execute an action in response to at leastdetermining a violation of an associated regulation. The followingdescriptions will focus on the operation of monitoring engine 224 inperforming this method. But system 100 contemplates using anyappropriate combination and arrangement of logical elements implementingsome or all of the described functionality.

Referring to FIG. 9A, method 900 focuses on the operation of the buyer116 during the purchasing of materials. Method 900 begins at step 902where plan requirements are received. In response to at least receivingthe plan requirements, computer 120 generates a purchase order at step904. If the planned amount violates a threshold at decisional step 906,then, at step 908, the purchase order is loaded. If the planned amountdoes not violate a threshold, then, at step 908, monitoring engine 224releases the purchase order. If the goods received is not confirmed thatdecisional step 912, then monitoring engine 224 transmits a notificationthat the amount is unconfirmed at step 914. If the goods received isconfirmed, then, at step 916, monitoring engine 224 updates confirmedamount and tracking table 216. At step 918, an invoice is received. Ifthe invoices is not verified at decisional step 920, then monitoringengine 224 locks the invoice at step 922. If the invoice is verified,then, at step 924, monitoring engine 224 releases the invoice. Inresponse to at least the released invoice, a check is generated inpayment and is released at step 926.

Referring to FIG. 9B, method 928 focuses on the operation of monitoringengine 224 during the purchasing of materials. Method 928 begins at step930 where a purchase orders is received. Next, at step 932, monitoringengine 224 identifies an associated threshold based, at least in part,on regulations 218. If the claimed amount violates a threshold at step934, then monitoring engine 224 transmits a notification of theviolation at step 936. If the planned amount does not violate theassociated threshold, then, at step 938, monitoring engine 224 updatesthe planned amount and tracking tables 216. At step 940, confirmation ofupdated confirmed amount is received. In response to at least theconfirmation, confirmed amount is updated in tracking tables 216 at step942.

Referring to FIG. 9C, method 950 focuses on the operation of vendor 114during the purchasing of materials. Method 950 begins at step 952 towhere computer 120 receives a purchase order. Next, at step 954,computer 120 generates a sales order in response to at least thereceived purchase order. If the sales order is not validated adecisional step 956, then, at step 958, monitoring engine 224 transmitsa notification that the sales order is not validated. If the sales orderis validated a decisional step 956, then, at step 960, monitoring engine224 generates an advanced shipping notification. Monitoring engine 224transmits the advanced shipping notification to the recipient of thepurchased goods at step 962. At step 964, computer 120 receives anindication that the goods receipt is confirmed. In response to at leastthe indication, computer 120 generates an invoice at step 966. Computer120 transmits the invoice to the recipient of the goods at step 968.

FIGS. 10A-D are flowcharts illustrating example methods 1000, 1020,1050, and 1080 for monitoring substance volumes during production inaccordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. Generally,methods 1000, 1020, 1050, and 1080 describe example techniques formonitoring engine 224 to monitor production business documents 208,determine whether the planned and/or confirmed amounts violateassociated regulations, and execute an action in response to at leastdetermining a violation of an associated regulation. The followingdescriptions will focus on the operation of a customer, sales anddistribution of manufacturer, monitoring engine 224, and manufacturingin performing these methods. But system 100 contemplates using anyappropriate combination and arrangement of logical elements implementingsome or all of the described functionality.

Referring to FIG. 10A, method 1000 focuses on the operation of a buyerduring the production of a requested material. Method 1000 begins atstep 1002 where buyer 116 initiates a requirement to manufacturer 110.If buyer 116 does not receive a sales order based, at least in part, onthe initiated requirement at decisional step 1004, then execution ends.If buyer 116 receives a sales order, then, at step 1006, buyer 116generates a purchase order. Next, at step 1008, buyer 116 transmits thepurchase order to manufacturer 110.

Referring to FIG. 10B, method 1020 focuses on the operation of sales anddistribution of manufacturer 110 during the production of the requestedmaterial. Method 1020 begins at step 1022, where manufacturer 110receives a request from buyer 116. In response to at least the request,manufacturer 110 generates a sales order at step 1024. If notificationstatus is not verified at decisional step 1026, then execution ends. Ifnotification status is verified at decisional step 1026, then, at step1028, manufacturer 110 transmits the sales order to buyer 116. Ifmanufacturer 110 determines that the requested amount is not availableat decisional step 1030, then execution ends. If manufacturer 110determines that the amount is currently available and/or may bemanufactured at decisional step 1030, then execution proceeds todecisional step 1032. If the amount is not available within the datespecified by buyer 116, then execution ends. If the material will beavailable within the date specified by buyer 116 then, at step 1034,manufacturer 110 generates a production order.

Referring to FIG. 10C, method 1050 focuses on the operation of trackingengine 222 and monitoring engine 224. Method 1050 begins at step 1052where tracking engine 222 receives a sales order from manufacturer 110.At step 1054, tracking engine 222 determines a notification statusbased, at least in part, on the sales order. Tracking engine 222transmits the status to manufacturer 110 at step 1056. At step 1058,tracking engine 222 receives production order and stores relevantinformation in tracking tables 216. If monitoring engine 224 determinesthat the amount in the production order violates one or more limitsassociated with the ordered material at decisional step 1060, then, astep 1062, monitoring engine 224 transmits a notification of theviolation to manufacturer 110. If monitoring engine 224 determines thatthe amount in the production order does not violate limits associatedwith the ordered material at decisional step 1060, then, a step 1064,tracking engine 222 updates the planned amounts in tracking tables 216.At step 1066, tracking engine 222 receives goods receipt that confirmsbuyer 116 received the ordered material. In response to at least thegoods receipt, tracking engine 222 updates confirmed amounts of thematerial in tracking tables 216.

Referring to FIG. 10D, method 1080 focuses on the operation ofmanufacturing of the ordered material. Method 1080 begins at step 1082where manufacturer 110 receives a production order. Next, at step 1084,manufacturer 110 stages raw materials needed for manufacturing theordered material. After staging the raw materials, manufacturer 110produces the order material at step 1086. At step 1088, manufacturer 110confirms the goods received. Manufacturer 110 transmits the confirmedamounts to tracking engine 222 at step 1090.

FIGS. 11A-C are flowcharts illustrating example methods 1100, 1120, and1140 for monitoring substance volumes during production for stock. Forexample, the substance may be stocked at vendor 114 and/or distributor112. Generally, methods 1100, 1120, and 1140 describe example techniquesfor monitoring engine 224 to monitor production business documents 208,determine whether the planned and/or confirmed amounts violateassociated regulations, and execute an action in response to at leastdetermining a violation of an associated regulation. The followingdescriptions will focus on the operation of a planner such asdistributor 112, monitoring engine 224, and manufacturer 110. But system100 contemplates using any appropriate combination and arrangement oflogical elements implementing some or all of the describedfunctionality.

Referring to FIG. 11A, method 1100 focuses on the operation ofdistributor 112 of a particular substance. Method 1100 begins at step1102 where distributor 112 generates a forecast of the demand of aparticular material. In response to at least the forecast demand,distributor 112 determines material planning in an attempt to satisfythe forecast demand at step 1104. Next, at step 1106, distributor 112generates a process order based, at least in part, on the materialplanning. If distributor 112 receives an indication that the processorder is not within associated limits at decisional step 1108, then, atstep 1110, the process order is locked. If the distributor 112 receivesan indication that the process order is within associated limits atdecisional step 1108, then, at step 1112, distributor 112 releases theprocess order to manufacturer 110.

Referring to FIG. 11B, method 1120 focuses on the operation of trackingsystem 200. Method 1120 begins at step 1122 where monitoring engine 224receives a process order identifying requested material. If therequested material violates limits of associated regulations atdecisional step 1124, then execution proceeds to step 1128. If therequest material does not violate limits of associated regulations atdecisional step 1124, then, at step 1126, monitoring engine 224 updatesplanned amounts in tracking tables 216. At step 1128, monitoring engine224 transmits a notification of the status of the process order.

Referring to FIG. 11C, method 1140 focuses on the operation ofmanufacturer 110. Method of 1140 begins at step 1142 where manufacturer110 can receive the process order from distributor 112. In response toat least the process order, manufacturer 110 stages raw material for theproduction of the ordered material at step 1144. After staging the rawmaterial, manufacturer 110 can produce the ordered material at step1146. If manufacturer 110 does not confirm goods receipt at step 1148,then execution ends. If manufacturer 110 does confirm goods receipt atdecisional step 1148, then manufacturer 110 transmits updated confirmedamounts to tracking engine 222 at step 1150.

FIGS. 12A-C are flowcharts illustrating example methods 1200, 1230, and1260 for monitoring substance volumes during sales and shippingmaterial. Generally, methods 1200, 1230, and 1260 describe exampletechniques for monitoring engine 224 to monitor sales business documents212, determine whether the planned and/or confirmed amounts violateassociated regulations, and execute an action in response to at leastdetermining a violation of an associated regulation. The followingdescriptions will focus on the operation of buyer 116, monitoring engine224, and vendor 114. But system 100 contemplates using any appropriatecombination and arrangement of logical elements implementing some or allof the described functionality.

Referring to FIG. 12A, method 1200 focuses on the operation of buyer116. Method 1200 begins at step 1202 where buyer 116 transmits apurchase inquiry to vendor 114. In response to the inquiry, buyer 116receives a quotation of the request material at step 1204. Buyer 116transmits a purchase order to vendor 114 based, at least in part, on thereceived quotation at step 1206. At step 1210, buyer 116 receives therequested materials. If buyer 116 is unable to verify the receivedmaterials at decisional step 1212, then, at step 1214, buyer 116 holdsthe associated invoice. If buyer 116 verifies the received materials atdecisional step 1212, then, at step 1216, buyer 116 releases the invoiceto vendor 114.

Referring to FIG. 12B, method 1230 focuses on the operation ofmonitoring engine 224. Method 1230 begins at step 1232 where monitoringengine 224 receives information associated with a sales order for thematerial. Monitoring engine 224 verifies notification status of theorder at step 1234. If monitoring engine 224 determines that the orderviolates limits of an associated regulation at decisional step 1236,then, at step 1238, monitoring engine 224 transmits a notification ofthe violation to vendor 114 and/or buyer 116. If monitoring engine 224determines that the order does not violate limits of an associatedregulation at decisional step 1236, then, at step 1240, monitoringengine 224 updates planned amounts in tracking tables 216. Monitoringengine 224 transmits a notification that the order does not violateregulations to vendor 114 at step 1242. At step 1244, monitoring engine224 receives confirmed amounts of the substance. Based, at least inpart, on the received confirmed amounts, monitoring engine 224 updatesconfirmed amounts in tracking tables 216. Monitoring engine 224transmits information confirming the amounts being shipped to buyer 116at step 1248.

Referring to FIG. 12C, method 1260 focuses on the operation of vendor114 for the sale and shipping of a requested material. Method 1260begins at step 1262 wherein vendor 114 receives an inquiry for amaterial from buyer 116. In response to at least the inquiry, vendor 114transmits a quotation for the requested material to buyer 116 at step1264. At step 1266, vendor 114 receives an acceptance of the quotationfrom buyer 116. Vendor 114 generates a sales order at step 1268 based,at least in part, on the transmitted quotation. If the sales orderviolates limits associated with the material at decisional step 1270,then, at step 1272, monitoring engine 224 transmits a notification ofthe violation to vendor 114. If the sales order does not violate limitsassociated with the material at decisional step 1270, then, at step1274, monitoring engine 224 releases the sales order and transmits, atstep 1276, the sales order to buyer 116. After transmitting the salesorder, vendor 114 prepares the products for shipping to the buyer 116 atstep 1278. Prior to shipping, if monitoring engine 224 does not confirmthe amount of the material being shipped, then, at step 1282, monitoringengine 224 transmits an error to vendor 114. If monitoring engine 224confirms the amount of the material being shipped, then, at step 1284,vendor 114 ships the material to buyer 116. Vendor 114 generates andtransmits an invoice to buyer 116.

Although this disclosure has been described in terms of certainembodiments and generally associated methods, alterations andpermutations of these embodiments and methods will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art. Accordingly, the above description of exampleembodiments does not define or constrain this disclosure. Other changes,substitutions, and alterations are also possible without departing fromthe spirit and scope of this disclosure.

1. A method, comprising: identifying a first document associated with abusiness process of an enterprise; determining a first volume of asubstance based, at least in part, on the business document; identifyinga second document associated with the business process of theenterprise; determining a second volume of the substance based, at leastin part, on the business document; aggregating the first volume and thesecond volume; and updating a file associated with the business processwith at least the aggregated volume.
 2. The method of claim 1, thematerial currently possessed by the enterprise.
 3. The method of claim1, the material being acquired by the enterprise.
 4. The method of claim1, further comprising: identifying an amount of a material based, atleast in part, on the first document, the material including thesubstance; identifying a specification associated with the material; anddetermining the first volume of the substance based, at least in part,on the material amount and the material specification.
 5. The method ofclaim 4, the material comprising a plurality of substances including thesubstance, the method further comprises: determining a volume for eachof the plurality of substances based, at least in part, on the materialamount and the specification; and updating a plurality of files based,at least in part, on the determined volumes, each file associated withat least one of the plurality of substances.
 6. The method of claim 1,the business process comprising one of production, sales, or purchases.7. The method of claim 1, wherein aggregating the first volume and thesecond volume comprises adjusting the first volume using the secondvolume.
 8. The method of claim 7, the first volume comprises a volumeproduced by the enterprise, the second volume comprises a volumeconsumed by the enterprise.
 9. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: identifying a first material including the substance, thefirst volume based, at least in part, on an amount of the firstmaterial; and identifying a second material including the substance, thesecond volume based, at least in part, on an amount of the secondmaterial, the first material different from the second material.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: identifying a list of substancesassociated with the enterprise, the list of substances identifying aplurality of substances including the substance; identifying a pluralityof documents based, at least in part, on the list of substances;determining a plurality volumes of the substances based, at least inpart, on the plurality of documents; and updating a plurality of fileswith the determined volumes, the plurality of files associated with thesubstances identified in the list of substances.
 11. Software, thesoftware operable to: identify a first document associated with abusiness process of an enterprise; determine a first volume of asubstance based, at least in part, on the business document; identify asecond document associated with the business process of the enterprise;determine a second volume of the substance based, at least in part, onthe business document; aggregate the first volume and the second volume;and update a file associated with the business process with at least theaggregated volume.
 12. The software of claim 11, the material currentlypossessed by the enterprise.
 13. The software of claim 11, the materialbeing acquired by the enterprise.
 14. The software of claim 11, thesoftware further operable to: identify an amount of a material based, atleast in part, on the first document, the material including thesubstance; identify a specification associated with the material; anddetermine the first volume of the substance based, at least in part, onthe material amount and the material specification.
 15. The software ofclaim 14, the material comprising a plurality of substances includingthe substance, the software further operable to: determine a volume foreach of the plurality of substances based, at least in part, on thematerial amount and the specification; and update a plurality of filesbased, at least in part, on the determined volumes, each file associatedwith at least one of the plurality of substances.
 16. The software ofclaim 11, the business process comprising one of production, sales, orpurchases.
 17. The software of claim 11, wherein the software operableto aggregate the first volume and the second volume comprises thesoftware operable to adjust the first volume using the second volume.18. The software of claim 17, the first volume comprises a volumeproduced by the enterprise, the second volume comprises a volumeconsumed by the enterprise.
 19. The software of claim 11, furthercomprising: identifying a first material including the substance, thefirst volume based, at least in part, on an amount of the firstmaterial; and identifying a second material including the substance, thesecond volume based, at least in part, on an amount of the secondmaterial, the first material different from the second material.
 20. Thesoftware of claim 11, further comprising: identifying a list ofsubstances associated with the enterprise, the list of substancesidentifying a plurality of substances including the substance;identifying a plurality of documents based, at least in part, on thelist of substances; determining a plurality volumes of the substancesbased, at least in part, on the plurality of documents; and updating aplurality of files with the determined volumes, the plurality of filesassociated with the substances identified in the list of substances.